


A little help (would be nice)

by Sock_s



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: (of a kind), Chronic Pain, Essek Thelyss Has Chronic Pain, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27066058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sock_s/pseuds/Sock_s
Summary: Essek wakes from pain and can’t take his medication as he doesn’t have anything to take it with.Edit: now with wonderful art from @djwellsted on Twitter!
Relationships: Essek Thelyss & Caleb Widogast, Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 24
Kudos: 186





	A little help (would be nice)

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Projecting on my favourite characters? Never...

It was pain that woke Essek, a horrible wave that left him shaking and sweat drenched where he lay. He reached over to the beside table blindly, hand feeling for both a potion bottle and something to eat. 

Ah fuck.

He had forgotten to refill his snacks supply beside his medication.

Essek groaned, trying to formulate a plan for getting food in his head, when another wave of pain hit him. Breathing through it slowly, he tried to build up the courage to just move.

The thought that this would be easier if he didn’t live alone struck him, followed by the thought of what if Caleb and nope, he wasn’t going down that path, no thank you. That still left the dilemma he was in though, as he slowly moved his hand grasping the potion bottle back to his side.

He could just take the medication and be done with it, although previous experience with that had been not ideal to say the least - one memorable time it had actually increased the pain to the point it knocked him out. 

Another wash of pain and he trembled, sweat making his hair stick to his forehead and chill him horribly. Maybe being unconscious was the best way to go with this - he was pretty much stuck here unless by some miracle someone called in to check on him. One of the Mighty Nein perhaps, his fog addled brain supplied.

And as if by some miracle, not but a second later his head was filled by the bubbly voice of Jester, loud and clear.

“Hey Essekkkk, we are heading out on a TOP SECRET mission tomorrow so would you like to come round for dinner tonight? Caduceus is making- ”

And she suddenly cut off. Ah, 25 word limit. He tried to compose himself to reply as much as possible, which was easier said than done.

“That.. would be nice Jester. I” - he cut off abruptly as hurt began to swallow him. Breathe Essek, that’s it - “I would love to join.”

Fuck, he should have just stooped and asked for someone to come over and help him. Now was not the time to be keeping up appearances, and for what it was worth the Nein had already seen him at his worst - in the bowels of the Balleater not too long ago. Just as he started to berate himself for his mistake his head filled once again with the - god she was _loud_ \- voice of Jester Lavorre.

“OH MY GOSH ESSEK ARE YOU OKAY? Are you injured? Did your floating spell stop while you were going downstairs and you broke your leg?”

“No. My leg is not broken Jester. Please, send someone round with food, as soon as possible. I am in my bedroom, top floor, the - ”

Ahh well, that should be enough information. All he could do now was lie and wait, and hope someone would be here soon.

___

Time got a little wobbly after that, but the next thing Essek was aware of was Caleb looking at him from the doorway with a soft, sad smile on his face. 

“Maybe not a broken leg, but you do not look well, my friend” 

Essek tried a smile, but right now his mind was a bit preoccupied to make much small talk. 

“Have you brought food?”

“Yes, Jester insisted I come here as soon as I could with some of her haversack pastries. I.. em, I apologise if they are a little stale”

“That is fine, just need something before I take this” Essek replied, gesturing at the potion bottle weakly.

After handing them over, Caleb sat, almost awkwardly, at the food of the bed while Essek slowly chewed the stale pastry. Finally, he took the potion, slumping back into the pillows once he had finished.

He could feel eyes boring into him, and when he looked up, Caleb was looking at him with concern, but also with a calculating look. Essek took a breath before breaking the silence.

“Caleb, I will be fine. I just need to wait a while for this to kick in then I can be up and about as usual.”  
  


Almost as if he hadn’t heard Essek, Caleb replied

“I was wondering...Would heat help?”

Wait what? It would yes, but moving was not an option right now. And Essek couldn’t think of any other way to make a hot compress other than maybe asking Caleb to fetch a hot water bottle. However Caleb was clearly thinking, and he did have a way of being surprising, so it was worth asking anyway.

“Yes, it would, why?”

“I can... I can heat my hands up. Not burning - well I can do that as well but I do not think that would be good for you right now - but warm enough to help with muscle aches. I do it for Caduceus sometimes, he, uhm, he has a bad knee. Just let me know where you need it the most, ja?”

Essek went to turn down the offer almost automatically, but reconsidered. The thought of a human heat pad did sound amazing to his fuzzy brain right now. 

“Well, everywhere hurts, but maybe my back and stomach? They, ah, seem to have a vengeance against me today”

”No problem, _mein Freund_ ”

It took a bit of rearranging, which had to be stopped and started a few times as pain made wince and have to halt, but he did note it was becoming less intense slowly but surely. 

Essek also noted how gentle Caleb was being with him. It made his heart melt, just a little bit.

Finally, they were situated so that Caleb lay to the back and side of Essek, cradling him with his arms, one hand on his back and the other on his stomach.

Essek, feeling a lot lighter than he had since waking, allowed himself to settle into the comfort and drift for a while.

___

“Essek...”

“Mmmmh, what is it”

“Do you get like this a lot?”

Ah. He knew the question would be brought up eventually. Might as well answer it now, he supposed. As he started to come back to reality, he realised a couple of things.

He was very very close to Caleb.

Caleb was in his bed.

Caleb had moved one hand from his stomach and was currently brushing his sweat stuck hair off his forehead ever so softly.

As if he felt Essek freeze, Caleb also froze, blush burning across his face. Essek, also blushing furiously, turned his head away and tried to compose himself to answer the question.

”You do not have to tell me, I was just, curious, is all.”

“It is okay Caleb, I do not mind telling. It is not always so bad, and when it is I usually have something to eat beside my medication so I can take it right away. Today I was just unprepared, is all.”

“Is it some sort of injury? Or a curse of some sort? Caduceus injured his knee as a child and it flares up with the weather, but this does not seem like that.”

“No, it is not of that nature. It- ” Essek paused, trying to think of the right words to explain, “It just is. I have been to many clerics and doctors but have yet to figure out a root cause of it. It causes me a varying amount of pain on a day-to-day basis. Occasionally, I am fine, then other times I feel like passing out I am so sore. It is why I developed my floating, originally, though that has also become somewhat my gimmick as years go on.”  
  
There was a pause, as Caleb considered the information.

“Well, regardless of what it is, thank you for letting me know. It, ah, it is a strength, letting your vulnerabilities be known.”

Essek turned to face Caleb, despite the embarrassment of their current position, and Caleb continued.

“And you know, you do not have to suffer alone. The Mighty Nein are always available for food delivery, if you need it.”

“I would very much like that.”  
  


“And right now? Are you okay? Do you want me to go? Because I can, if you want to.”

Essek took a moment, weighing his options. His first instinct was to ask Caleb to leave, but then he would be alone again - while the pain had mostly passed, he was exhausted and the heat was helping. And he would never admit it out loud, but he _was_ enjoying the closeness. It had been a while since he had been held so gently. 

“Please stay? I am rather comfortable at the moment.”

Caleb smiled down at him warmly.

“Of course”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> And they snuggled for a few more hours before Caleb awkwardly excused himself. Also shh It’s a Sunday and Essek doesn’t have any work duties. 
> 
> Thanks to Cers who messaged “write the fic you want to see in the world” - I did!  
> And again thank u Daisy (@djwellsted) for that drawing and my life!


End file.
